Association between meat consumption and IBD risk

Animal protein intake is associated with the risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (EPIC-IBD) cohort [1]. The investigators said the observed associations between the consumption of meat –red meat in particular– and the risk of ulcerative colitis (UC) and IBD warrant further investigation.

The association between high protein intake and risk of IBD was investigated in the EPIC-IBD cohort, which is embedded in the main EPIC study (n=521,000). In the presented analysis, 413,593 participants were included.

After a mean follow-up of 16 years, 595 incident cases of IBD were identified: 418 cases of UC and 177 cases of Crohn’s disease (CD). There was no association between total protein intake and risk of IBD (adjusted HR for the fourth versus vs first quartile 1.25; 95% CI 0.89–1.77; P-trend=0.33). The association between the calibrated continuous variable of animal protein intake and IBD risk was significant, however (aHR per 10 g/day 1.10; 95% CI 1.00–1.21). There was no association between vegetable protein intake and IBD risk. Meat consumption and IBD risk were found to be associated (aHR for the fourth vs first quartile 1.37; 95% CI 1.02–1.82; P-trend=0.003). The same was true for red meat consumption and IBD risk (aHR for the fourth vs the first quartile 1.41; 95% CI 1.03–1.92; P-trend=0.006). There was an association between total meat, as well as red meat, and risk of UC. No association was found between animal proteins and risk of CD.

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   1. Dong C, et al. ECCO-IBD 2020, OP17.

 

 



Posted on 14 April 20208 April 2024